Rothko's 'Orange' painting squeezes record $86.9 million at Christie's

A sunset-colored painting by Mark Rothko became the world's most expensive contemporary art work on Tuesday when it fetched $86.9 million in a stunningly lucrative auction at Christie's in New York.

NEW YORK, May 8: A sunset-colored painting by Mark Rothko became the world's most expensive contemporary art work on Tuesday when it fetched $86.9 million in a stunningly lucrative auction at Christie's in New York.

"Orange, red, yellow" was as hot on the Christie's block as the colors on the bold, large-scale abstract canvas. A thicket of hands shot up to catch the attention of auctioneer Christopher Burge, bids leaping in increments of a million, sometimes two million dollars.

The hammer finally fell at a hair under $87 million, including final commission, breaking both the previous record for Rothko's most expensive work of $72.84 million and the record for any contemporary work of art at auction, Christie's said.

Collectors were in full cry all evening, knocking 14 artists' records down and repeatedly meeting or exceeding pre-sale high estimates.

Total takings of $388.5 million were the highest ever for a contemporary art auction, a record last set in 2007, Christie's said.

Among the other stars was the spectacular "FC1" by Yves Klein, which depicts the X-ray-like outlines of two nude models captured on canvas through a mixture of paint, water and flames.

It had been estimated to fetch up to $40 million. Although the hammer came down at the relatively flat $36.5 million, including commission, that smashed Klein's previous $23.6 million record.

One of the most breathless bidding wars was for Gerhard Richter's "Abstraktes Bild," which sold for $21.8 million, easily beyond the $18 million high estimate, and also a record for the artist.